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Hudson River Trustees Release Aquatic Insect Data Report

Date Posted: September 15, 2009

The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees have released a Data Report on organochlorine and metal contaminant levels in Hudson River aquatic insects as part of the Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees -- New York State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) -- are working cooperatively to conduct the NRDA. In 1998, the Trustees collected emerging adult aquatic insects at four sites along the Hudson River to determine PCB contamination levels in aquatic insects to complete the contaminant pathway from sediment to tree swallows. In addition, the Trustees measured concentrations of other organochlorine compounds and metals in adult aquatic insects. This study shows a contaminant pathway of PCBs from contaminated Hudson River sediments to adultaquatic insects to tree swallows. A similar pathway would exist for other insectivorous invertebrates andvertebrates, both aquatic and terrestrial, exposed to PCBs through their diet of insects.